Earning His Feathers
by Princess Shania
Summary: Join Skipper,Rico and Kowalski as they bring up their dead friend, Shelley's son. Contain Koris or Dorwalski whichever you call it, and extreme adorability.Enjoy!
1. Sleep Troubles

'_Cheep! Cheep! Cheep!'_

The three penguins groaned audibly. Rico jumped out of his bunk and went to attend to the chick. He picked him up and groggily rocked him in his flippers. The baby bird was having none of it. He wanted to play and started cheeping even louder.

"Put him back and see if he goes to sleep." Skipper mumbled.

Rico did so. He went back to his bunk and the chick started cheeping again. He stopped as though listening out and began cheeping more continued for 4 minutes and then the chick started sniffling and crying. Seeing as it was now his shift to go to the chick, Kowalski left his bunk and went to the little cardboard box he was currently sleeping in. He reached out and gave him a flipper to cuddle. The baby quietened down, but looked upset still.

"Hold him,man. He'll be sad all night and we don't want that."

So the scientist lifted the chick up. But he didn't cuddle him very close. He wasn't at all sure about chicks. He could deal with an egg, as Neoma had called upon his father and him to eggsit, but chicks were new to him. He'd never been left alone with his nephew as Kurai hadn't wanted him to screw up his only grandson.

"Hold him a little closer."

He tried. He did try. But the chick was nowhere near close enough. Skipper got up and carefully took the chick from his second-in-command's flippers to show him how to hold a baby.

The chick was very happy to be held by Skipper. He cheeped away as though talking to him, until he gave a little yawn and his large blue eyes began to close. Despite himself, Skipper smiled. He did have Shelley's eyes.

"How do you know so much about babies?" Kowalski asked curiously

"I asked Big Daddy a lot of questions when Kali had our egg." Skipper answered

"Oh." Kowalski said, guiltily. Skipper hit him upside the head.

"Ow!"

"Well, stop looking so guilty about it! I have half a mind to bring a Guilt Jar in and every time you look guilty about something you shouldn't, you'll have to put a nickel in there!"

"Sorry."

"That's alright."

"You weren't serious were yo-? Oh, you were."

Skipper rolled his eyes and gently pushed Kowalski towards his bunk.

"Go back to sleep. He'll be out for the night, I think."

"Yeah. Night, guys."

"Night."

"N'ght."

**First chapter of Earning His Feathers! Baby penguins have downy soft fluffy grey feathers. So it's about Private growing up and earning respect from his comrades, I suppose. This is so exciting! Hey, if I make a fist and hit my knuckles together (though not very hard) it makes a cool noise! REMEMBER REVIEWS AND CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM ARE VERY WELCOME AND ALWAYS WILL BE! Neoma is Kowalski's other sister. She has children, all boys. Would you like her to make an appearance? Kurai's still alive here and so is Kali.**

**Love and peace guys. Shania**


	2. New Word

It was near the time for the chick to say his first words. Rico and Kowalski were trying to 'help' him.

"Hydrochloric."

"Kaboom."

"Hydrochloric."

"Ka-boom."

"Hy-dro-chlo-ric."

"KA-BOOM."

"HYD-DRO-CHLO-RIC."

"KABOO-!"

"Rico! He is not being violent and that is that!"

"Oh,ye'h 'e is! 'e isn' be'n' s'ie'ti'i'!"

"Alright,alright!" Skipper interrupted. Private looked up at them wonderingly. "Rico, he doesn't look violent to me. Does he to you?"

"No."

"No. Kowalski, he might not like as a baby, he's not going to be saying long words, is he?"

"I suppose not. It'd be good if he did,though."

Skipper gave him a sharp look. Realising that was the wrong answer, Kowalski quickly added. "I'll try and stop saying science words in the hope that he becomes a child prodigy."

"Good. Thank you."

"As long as Rico stops attempting to mould him into a violent baby."

"Kowalski!"Skipper said, exasperated.

"Oh,al'igh'! 'll sto' say'n Ka-"

"Rico!" Skipper warned.

"'orry. ' p'omi'e to sto' sa'n' t'e wor'."

That satisfied Kowalski. Skipper went topside, muttering about how he was beginning to wish he'd been born a house cat.

Later on,Rico and Kowalski were flicking through the channels, completely bored. Skipper was doing something with the car and Private was scribbling on a piece of paper with a green crayon.

It was very unfortunate, but as they were flicking through, the word 'crap' was rather loudly said on the screen. The chick didn't do anything, but then, just as they'd found something decent...

"Crap!"

They jolted and turned round swiftly. The chick smiled said it again.

"Private,no! You mustn't say that!"

Private repeated it.

Rico put a flipper on the chick's beak.

"What's Skipper going to say?"

"I's no' w'a' 'e' gon'a sa' tha' we shou' be worr'in abou'."

"Oh God,oh God..."

"Do' pa'ic! 'e'll ju' say we dunno wha' P'i'ate sai' i' 'e say' i' aga'."

"That's good. Yeah, we'll just say that."

They both returned to the television. Rico didn't particularly want Private to waddle off and tell Skipper his new word, so he held him closely to his chest. Luckily, Private liked it and snuggled down to sleep after 5 minutes.

"Aw. Did he say anythi-?" Skipper began.

"NO!" They both said. They were terrified at the thought of Skipper discovering what Private had learned.

"Oh, guys. He'll find a word eventually." Skipper told them, mistaking their 'NO!' to be out of frustration, rather than fear.

"Yeah."

"Uh huh."

Skipper blended some boned and gutted fish for the chick. Rico brought the chick over for him to get fed. Kowalski followed to see how it was done. After the baby bird had finished his meal, he blinked his big, adorable blue eyes and said...

"CRAP!"

**Oh, my! Yeah, baby penguins are fed by their mummies or daddies regurgitating fish into their beaks. Not nice. I figure the penguins probably wouldn't want to do that, so just bone and gut the fish and blend it, put it in a bottle and he's good to go. What will Skipper say? Read next chapter to find out. REMEMBER, REVIEWS AND CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM ARE VERY WELCOME AND ALWAYS WILL BE!**

**Loads of love, Shania**


	3. Moon Horses

Skipper stared in horror at the chick. Then he slowly looked at Kowalski and Rico, both of whom looked terrified.

"Guys," he said calmly. "What did Private just say?"

"I...I don't know."

"Are you sure?"

"Yuh-huh."

"Really?"

"No."

"Nuh-huh."

"Thought so. How did he find it?"

"It was said on the TV."

"Wa'nt eve' co'pe'ly sai'."

"No. I think he caught the gist, though."

"Saying a word like that before the 9pm watershed. What are they thinking? OK, we'll just erase the word from our memories, try not to react if he says it again and hopefully, he'll find a new word and we'll pretend this incident _never happened."_

"OK."

"A'righ'."

It was hard. Private simply adored the word and kept repeating it. He said it through the rest of the evening and continuously repeated it all through the night.

"It could have been worse." Kowalski said. "Imagine if he'd heard the word 'a-'"

"Stop! Right there. If he discovers a worse word I'll..."

What Skipper would do, no one ever found out because Private had just seen a new advert on the TV. It was of a pink horselike creature with a horn on it's head.

"Those frilly moonhorses." Skipper muttered. But Private was fascinated. He padded over and began patting the screen.

"Luna."

"What?"

"Luna! Luna luna luna luna..."

"Thank God. He's found a new word!" Skipper said, relieved.

"And determined what TV show he's going to like best."Kowalski added

"Don't say that!"

When they went to bed that night, it was peaceful. All were grateful that Shelley's baby was still relatively innocent. Until...

"Crap!"

**The moral of this is: Don't be relieved immediately! Hahaha! Aw, I love writing about baby Private! Updates _will_ happen but there may be less of them. Hopefully not tho, cos I hate leaving people in the lurch. I have to revise for things and other stuff which sucks. I'm sorry guys, really. REMEMBER REVIEWS AND CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM ARE VERY WELCOME AND ALWAYS WILL BE!**

**Love Shania**


	4. Learning to Swim

It was nearly time for Private to learn how to swim. None of them could believe it had come so quickly.

"OK." Skipper said on The Day. "Do you two know how to teach a child to swim?"

"No." Rico replied. This didn't surprise Skipper. Rico had,after all, tried to teach Private to fly when he was in the egg.

"Yes." Kowalski said. Hmm. Kurai had been the one to teach him to swim. Still, he would have had to do things by the book. Wouldn't he?

"I can."Kowalski told Skipper, seeing the look of doubt on his leader's face. "Father taught me." Skipper fought to get the doubtfulness off his face. When he was sure he didn't look doubting, he said,

"OK. Do you want to start it off?"

If only he'd asked the scientist how to do it. If he'd known how Kowalski perceived a swimming lesson for a child to be, he would never have allowed it.

Kowalski gently placed the baby in the water. He didn't hold him, just left the chick. Naturally the baby started sinking. It was in that single moment the penguin realised that maybe his father had done something wrong. Rico yanked the baby out. It happened so quickly, the baby hadn't even time to register what had just occurred. There was a small silence.

"That's...not how to do it, is it?"

"No. Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah."

"How did you survive your childhood?"

"It wasn't that bad." At the look of skepticism, he admitted, "I don't know."

Skipper (knelt?) by the water and held the chick so his feet were under the blue surface. The baby kicked his feet and made happy noises.

"You get him used to it and put him lower very slowly." Skipper informed the others. "He has to like the water first. Then he'll learn by it again."

As Kowalski held the chick, Skipper decided he'd better ask him just how Kurai had taught him everything. It didn't take the baby bird long to like the water. He wasn't too sure about it when he was up to his chest,though. They tried as long as they could, and then it became apparent that the child would probably end up disliking the water if they kept it up.

"Not all kids learn to swim first time. We'll try again tomorrow."

**This is a short chapter isn't it? :/ Sorry, I can't think what else to put. I've never taught a child to swim in my life, but I figure that they have to like and feel safe in the water before anything else and Private'd feel safe with the other penguins. I think I was onto something there. In case you didn't quite get it, Kowalski pretty much had to teach himself to swim. Kurai'd just put him in water and leave him to it. Great parenting skills,right? Anyway, I'm sorry it took so long to update. I don't like taking ages to do so, and if it's any consolation, I think about all of you every day. REMEMBER REVIES AND CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM ARE VERY WELCOME AND ALWAYS WILL BE.**

**Love from Shania**


	5. Learning

Later that night, there were two insomniacs. One was the chick and the other was Kowalski. The chick wasn't really interested in sleep and was burbling quietly to himself. For some reason, Kowalski couldn't keep his eyes off the box in which the baby bird slept. OK, he knew the reason. He was failing in spectacular fashion at caring for the chick. Had Kurai been right? He couldn't stop thinking about it. His mind was on this when, without warning, something Skipper had told him popped into his head.

"Don't give anyone the satisfaction of being right, especially not him!"

The man had a point. He quietly slipped out of his bunk and walked softly to the box. The chick gave a delighted shriek when he saw him. Kowalski gently put his flipper on the child's beak to make him understand he needed to be quiet and carefully, slowly, lifted him out of the box. The baby gripped his flippers tightly. The child didn't have a clue what was going on, but he trusted the tallest penguin deeply. Kowalski was determined to hold a baby properly and nothing would deter him from his quest.

He held him close to his chest and gave him some room so he didn't feel squashed. But it didn't feel safe for the kid, so he tightened his wings a little. The baby sighed and snuggled into his chest and that was when Kowalski realised something.

He was holding a baby! It wasn't even that hard, now he came to think of it. The baby closed his eyelids and snuggled closer. Kowalski smiled and after a short while decided that he'd better put the baby back. The baby, however, had other plans. Whenever the scientist tried to lower him into his box, he opened his eyes. Kowalski would draw back, horrified at the thought of upsetting him and the baby would sleep again.

"I see you succeeded." Skipper said. Kowalski nearly jumped out of his skin. He looked at him guiltily. Skipper frowned.

"You know, I was serious about the Guilt Jar..."

"I know. Sorry. I'm holding him!"

"I know and it's very good, but you shouldn't be awake."

"I couldn't he couldn't either."

"Oh, in that case, great!" Skipper told him, sarcastically.

"At least he's sleeping now. He won't me put him down, though."

"All babies do that. Do it quickly, not slow. If you do it slower, he'll feel you letting him go and he'll really wake up then."

Kowalski wasn't at all sure, but he knew that Skipper knew more about babies, so he took the advice. Private opened his eyes, blinked...and fell asleep. Kowalski sighed with relief. He'd been worried that he'd end up holding the baby for all time, even though he knew it was impossible and highly illogical.

"I' fee's ni', ho'din' th' ba'y, doe'n' i?" Rico asked, sleepily as Kowalski flopped back in his bunk.

"Yeah. I'd like a baby..."

"If you're going to have a baby, get married first. And don't make it here!"

Kowalski smiled.

"Yes, sir."

"I'm serious. If I find you and your girlfriend making a child..."

"Skipper!" Kowalski protested. Below him, Rico started laughing.

"...I'll never forgive you. And I'll tell the story to your grandchildren."

"I won't, I promise!"

"Good. Now go to sleep."

**Couldn't resist! I feel I've been neglecting Rico ): I will give him more next chapter I promise you. Again, REVIEWS AND CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM ARE VERY WELCOME AND ALWAYS WILL BE!**

**Love Shania**


	6. Driven Mad

Rico was very bored. As he jiggled the chick in his flippers to try and entertain him, his eyes kept wandering to the car. Skipper had given instructions to him that he was NOT under any circumstances to drive it while he was looking after the baby. Neoma had called to announce the hatching of her second chick, another boy and the fact that she'd laid another egg. Was the woman a machine? Anyway, Skipper was with Kowalski while the scientist talked to her. The leader didn't trust any of his lieutenants' family to talk to him. Rico smiled, remembering the time Skipper had literally sworn down the phone at Neoma's husband. While this memory danced in his chaotic mind, his sea-blue eyes were drawn to the car.

Neoma talked for AGES on the phone. Which meant Skipper wouldn't know if he took the car for one teeny little spin...

Ah, the rush...the exhilaration as the wind ruffled his Mohawk...the baby liked it too. Well, he was shrieking pretty loud, so he must like it. The penguin shut his eyes as he enjoyed the ride. When he opened them... he was no longer in the penguin exhibit.

_'Oh, Private's first word,'_ thought Rico._ 'How can I get back?'_ To make matters worse, the brakes failed. The wire snapped. So they were going every which way, the baby screaming...it was chaos unleashed.

"That's lovely Neoma." Kowalski said tiredly. He was bored stiff of the subject of another nephew he'd never get to see. " Yes, I'm interested...I don't want my own baby yet..."

His sister was not pleased as a bellow of outrage implied. Skipper sighed and took the phone off his second-in-command. This had gone on long enough.

"Neoma, we've got a baby to teach. No it's not mine..or Rico's...or...he would've told you! Now say goodbye..." Skipper held the phone to Kowalski's ear. Neoma's quiet woice came out. "...And hang up."

"Thank you. "

"No problem. God, that woman can talk. Now let's go to Rico."

Rico winced as the car tore through another shrub. It spun and zoomed back towards the penguin habitat. Rico sighed with relief. Maybe Skipper wouldn't find out. The baby had long stopped yelling and gasped as the car bumped into the railings when it flew over them. The car crashed down at the exact moment the other penguins came out. Skipper blinked. Had the car just moved? No, Rico wouldn't... and then he saw the partially destroyed zoo. His shoulders slumped in shock. How had that boy managed to do all this in half an hour in a little pink car? _How?_

"K-Kowalski? Can you take the baby inside..please?"

Kowalski lifted the baby out of the car and hurried back. He didn't want the baby to be frightened by Skipper yelling at Rico, especially as the child had just been in the car with A Penguin of Mass Destruction. He left just in time to hear Skipper say,

"I left you for less than an hour..."

It took less than twenty seconds for a yell of "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, IT'S NOT THAT BAD!"

The baby looked up wonderingly as Skipper loudly and angrily scolded Rico. Kowalski gently stroked his head. What a fool Rico could be.

**Everyone, I would like you to follow my example and thank Doctor Hamato without whom this chapter would not exist. This genuis gave the inspiration for this and is therefore, awesome. Thank you very much Doctor Hamato and I can't wait for your feedback on this chapter. Again, REVIEWS AND CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM ARE VERY WELCOME AND ALWAYS WILL BE!**

**Love Shania**


	7. Not Sinking

It was a peaceful morning. Until the invasion alarms went off. They all jumped up, in various fighting stances...only to see the baby otter.

"Marlene? How did you get in here?"

"I dunno. I only came to see the baby."

Her golden brown eyes stared cheerfully up at them. They didn't smile back.

"Alright! I'll knock next time." And with that, she climbed into the box. Skipper rolled his eyes.

"Mammals."

"'Ou 'eal'y 'a'e ma'als." Rico said.

"What's to like?"

The chick stared wonderingly as Marlene cannon-balled into the turquoise water. She popped up and doggy-paddled towards him.

"Come in! Come in! Come in!" She chanted. He took a step forward. Rico lifted him up and placed him in the water, holding under his wings. The baby gave a little wriggle with his feet.

"Let him go. See what he does." Skipper told him. Rico did so.

"Look, he's floating!" Marlene laughed. She reached out and tugged his little grey flippers. He kicked and managed to go forwards a little.

"He's learning!" Kowalski pointed out.

"He most certainly is. He'll be as good as Shelley once he learns to get his head under."

"That's the worst part."

"We have Marlene. I bet he'll do what she does."

"Yeah?"

"She made him want to go in the water. Maybe she'll show him how to go under one day."

"How long did it take you guys to learn to go under?"

"My mo' sai' i' too' me' ' we'k 'n' ha'f."

"Took me two. My dad said it was a miracle I got to it at all. He really knew how to exaggerate."

"Li' fa'er li' s'n."

"Hey! I still haven't forgotten you trashing the place!"

Kowalski unsuccessfully tried to disguise his laughing with a couple of coughs.

"It isn't funny." Skipper sternly told him. " Anyway, how long did it take you?"

"A day or two."

"That's not normal."

"I know."

"Did you get scared?"

"Yeah. Well, it's over now, it doesn't matter." Not wanting to talk about it anymore, he said quickly, "Private's doing well."

"Yeah. He's doing great."

**And the inglorious curse of Writer's Block strikes again! Sorry it took so long! I'm very sorry and unfortunately I can't say it won't happen again! Updates are gonna be slow. I'm very very sorry you guys. I love you all and I'll update when I can, I promise, but it's going to be a little further between. I'm very sorry. Did you like this chapter? Hope you did. REMEMBER REVIEWS AND CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM ARE VERY WELCOME AND ALWAYS WILL BE!**

**Love from Shania**


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